Growing Energy Consumption, Driven by World Population and Income Growth, Will be a Challenging Future to the World in General and Africa in Particular. This blogger Researches the Energy Industry and Shares and Gives an Insight of Better Practices, Innovations and updates to policy Makers, Utility providers, Consultants and Electricity consumers for Them to Act Not Just Economically but also Responsibly. Please Continue Reading the Articles Below.

Saturday, 14 June 2014

“One Stop Shop Investment”

"The African
people need electricity. It is not up to the people to worry about the
feasibility study, the engineering, the construction, the financing, the
investment and whatever it may be but just need the output, the electricity.
These days we are getting that as a one stop shop on investment which we can’t
reject irrespective of the long term implications”. This is a speech made by
one of African’s energy sector leaders in the US-Africa Energy Ministerial Conference
conducted on June 3-4, 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia which I put it in my own
words.

It makes sense
to me if I expand and resonate it a little bit further to the overall
investment climate in Africa. Essentially, the people as consumers are not
expected to be concerned about the whole process of getting things done but the
output where ever they may originate. Africans’ are not the exceptions. They
need the output.

Basically, it is
up to the governments to device the best mechanisms and solutions and provide
their people with improved health services, education systems, infrastructure
and energy and so on but the later just need the output, nothing more nothing
less.

African countries are realizing their
potentials and the need to invest on infrastructure and fuel their economy so
that they feed their ever expanding population. Slowly but surely, the
landscape is changing. The ones volatile regions are showing dramatic progress
towards peace, stability, growth and development, and becoming destinations for
investment, with the exception of few. Essentially, the internal drive is under
momentum. Most of them set ambitious goals and are working on it. However; they
do have still limitations both on technical and financial terms to achieve
these aspirations. So, the African governments are at a time the support of the
developed world, be it governmental or private community, is more than
critical. The traditional support and investment which is bound with
preconditions doesn’t help the continent significantly, anymore. The Africans
look after investments which benefits the investors and their own very people.
Open, mutual and practical, than words, approach will substantially benefit in
the times ahead in the African soil.

The right attitude to invest in Africa right
now, I tell you, is not to expect or wait for a perfect investment climate but
to face it and lay the foundation from now on. Success in business in Africa is
almost guaranteed as there are few who did it and are on the right track. I
don’t have to tell you that there are abundant resources, young work force, big
market potential etc. Bear in mind that the African investment context is possibly
and probably different from the other world. There are even many differences
among the 54 states or so in the continent. Doing ones homework and tailoring
every investment to every country helps much. Don’t lump sum and judge the 54
states in to a single virtual one.

I believe the African challenges ahead are
somehow the challenges of the world as well. In the past couple of years the
continental body, AU, in collaboration with other international partners, has
been assisting the efforts of individual countries .Nonetheless, it remains
limited as compared to the investment capital need projected, and often
promises were not fully practical because of age old procedures, rules,
regulations and preconditions of investment in Africa. The developed world
mainly the west should come out of the age old mind set towards Africa and
encourage their private capital to flow in, if they really need to see a change
in the continent.

The African governments need money and they
are desperately looking for every alternative to realize their dreams.
Sometimes, however, the alternatives are costlier and unpredictable.

Fortunately, it is not too late to genuinely
invest in Africa and strike a balance. Just come with one stop shop solution.